When designing print it is important to remember the order remains linear, with the reader engaging privately. Print also involves a different time axis, with the reader moving down and across the page across columns at their own pace to focus and comprehend. When designing for print it is also essential to have a clear contrast between the background and foreground colours so it doesn't make it hard to read and interpret, consequently being more layered. Images are also essential to decrease the amount of too much white space. Essentially print is also very limited to the argument at hand and cannot create as much information or related texts to further analyse the topic so therefore covering the scope to keep the readers attention (Birkerts, 1994).
Web design takes another different form. For instance web readers don't sit their and read the whole text instead they scan the text. Therefore the design must change to accomodate the reader. The information displayed is split into multiple hyperlinked pages so the reader can pick and chose from their preference (Sun Microsystems, 2007). When designing for the web it is important to make the text scannable. Furthermore this means highlighting keywords, stand out sub-headings, one idea per paragraph and a more concise shorter word count stating the most important information.
Birkerts, S 1994, The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age, viewed 9 October 2007 http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdbirk.htm
Sun Microsystems, 2007, Differences between paper and online documents, viewed 9 October 2007, http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/wftw1.html
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